This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAN SALVADOR 002374
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRMPGOVESPREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: HOMICIDE RATE RISES TO WARTIME LEVELS
Â¶1. (U) SUMMARY: In recent months, El Salvador has
experienced a significant increase in homicides, straining
law enforcement authorities' ability to make arrests and
prosecute those responsible. However, polls indicate that
Salvadorans do not perceive the rise in killings as a
failure of the Saca administration, which continues to take
measures to address the problem. END SUMMARY.
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HOMICIDE WAVE HEARKENS BACK TO DIFFICULT YEARS
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Â¶2. (U) BACKGROUND: During El Salvador's civil war years
(1980-1992), the nation's homicide rate hovered at around 60
per 100,000 population per year. After peaking at double
that rate during the mid-1990s, it had slowly decreased to
levels of 25-45 murders/100,000/year in recent years--still
one of the Western Hemisphere's highest rates. On August 2,
the Civilian National Police (PNC) announced that from
January through July of this year, some 2,040 homicides were
committed in El Salvador, compared with 1,501 for the same
period last year. This homicide rate--approximately 10/day-
-included a violent July that witnessed 375 murders. Should
this trend continue, 2005 will have the distinction of
having surpassed the wartime rate of killings.
Â¶3. (U) For January through March of 2005, the Civilian
National Police reported 902 homicides nationally, although
the Office of the Attorney General (FGR) registered only 807
for the same term. Additionally, the FGR had no figures
available outlining how many homicides had resulted in
filing of charges; this ongoing lack of coordination between
the PNC and FGR significantly hampers efficient arrest and
prosecution of criminals.
Â¶4. (U) July's homicide victims were mostly men aged 19 to
59 living in urban areas; eight of every ten murders were
perpetrated with firearms. Deputy PNC Director Pedro
Gonzlez estimated that approximately 90 percent of murder
victims were gang members, and related that one of the
government's assumptions in drafting the "Very Firm Hand"
anti-gang initiative was that gang-related violence was the
leading cause of homicide. For his part, the FGR's Chief of
Criminal Investigation agreed that recent months' homicides
were primarily related to gangs, as well as drugs.
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NO CONSISTENT INVESTIGATION OR EVIDENTIARY PROCEDURES
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Â¶5. (U) According to the FGR's Chief of Criminal
Investigation, only one prosecuting investigator is
available at each FGR subregional office at night and over
weekends. A PNC investigator outlined that during weekends,
when five or more murders often occur each night, only one
PNC Technical-Scientific Unit is on duty to collect
evidence, which often results in hasty, sloppy work. He
added that investigation of homicides in El Salvador is
hamstrung by the lack of consistent investigation
guidelines.
Â¶6. (U) Inasmuch as the Constitution stipulates that the FGR
shall be responsible for directing criminal investigations,
courts often exclude evidence collected by PNC officers
without the FGR's authorization and oversight
("Direccionamiento Fiscal"). In the absence of uniform
national rules of evidence, this problem is exacerbated by
judges' virtual autonomy in deciding the admissibility of
evidence; two different judges can--and often do--rule
differently on the admissibility of the very same evidence.
Â¶7. (U) Despite the problems faced by police, polls show
that the PNC is the institution in which Salvadorans place
their highest confidence. According to a nationwide October
2004 poll by the University of Central America's Institute
of Public Opinion (IUDOP), some 77 percent of Salvadorans
hold a positive view of the PNC, while only 6.4 percent
characterized the PNC as "bad". In striking contrast to
citizens' positive perceptions of the police, the nation's
judicial system ranks as the nation's least-respected
democratic institution, with 37 percent of respondents
holding a negative view of the judiciary, and only 38
percent qualifying the courts' work as "good". (Note:
According to a February CID-GALLUP poll, seven of every ten
Salvadorans identified at least one positive accomplishment
resulting from the administration's "Very Firm Hand" anti-
gang initiative. End note.)
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PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF THE PROBLEM
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Â¶8. (U) A May IUDOP poll revealed that only 3.2 percent of
the population viewed the increase in homicides as a failure
of the government. Most Salvadorans were more concerned
with economic problems; 37 percent saw the high cost of
living as the administration's fault. In August, civil
organizations including the Catholic Church and the
Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development
(FUSADES) made public statements on the problem of crime;
Monsignor Fernando Saenz Lacalle, Archbishop of El Salvador,
urged the government and citizens to redouble efforts at
deterring the violence El Salvador suffers. FUSADES
expressed its concerns to the Minister of Governance, and
urged further reforms in firearms law.
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CAFTA, ANTI-CRIME EFFORTS, AND UPCOMING ELECTIONS
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Â¶9. (U) On August 14, Minister of Governance Rene Figueroa
announced that the government would strengthen evidence
collection and homicide investigation, and implement an
aggressive plan to arrest more than 150 murder suspects in
coming weeks. The plan includes the creation of the new PNC
Homicide Investigation Unit (PNC/DIHO), in coordination with
the FGR's elite investigation unit. Additionally, 700
soldiers will join 800 already deployed in a joint task
force patrolling rural areas, and incarcerated gang leaders
will be transferred to the nation's maximum security prison.
Â¶10. (SBU) COMMENT: Recent passage of CAFTA has raised
expectations for improved economic growth, but the nation's
critical crime problem is widely viewed as a serious
impediment to foreign direct investment. Crime also holds
political ramifications. Municipal and Legislative Assembly
elections will take place in March 2006; if past experience
holds, these elections will serve as a referendum on the
ruling party as voters look ahead to the 2009 presidential
election. Governance Minister Rene Figueroa, who oversees
the PNC, is widely viewed as one of three possible ARENA
presidential candidates; lack of progress in addressing the
nation's staggering homicide rate could affect the viability
of his candidacy. END COMMENT.